The research in the Wolfgang laboratory utilizes biochemistry and molecular genetics to understand the molecular mechanisms used to sense and respond to nutritional/metabolic cues under various physiological and pathophysiological circumstances. They are particularly interested in deciphering the roles of unexplored metabolic enzymes/pathways and determining novel roles of canonical metabolic pathways in cells and tissues that have been largely ignored by the metabolic community. This includes cells in the nervous system and immune system as well as more classical metabolic models such as adipocytes and hepatocytes. Similar to the genomic landscape, there is an incredible amount of chemical metabolic space in cells that is critically important from a basic and clinical science standpoint that has been largely ignored. The Wolfgang laboratory is trying to fill this large void. To accomplish this they make heavy use of molecular biology and genetics to understand enzyme and metabolite biochemistry in vivo. The Wolfgang laboratory has also developed genetically-encoded sensors and chemical-genetic tools to overcome the technical obstacles facing the field of metabolic biochemistry